Railers fall to Derby at TOC

DODGE CITY — The Newton High School boys’ basketball team got off to an ice cold start, aggravated by turnovers, falling to Derby 64-42 Saturday afternoon in the consolation finals of the Dodge City Tournament of Champions at United Wireless Arena. Derby was 25 of 42 from the field for 59.5 percent, while the Railers were 15 of 44 for 34.1 percent. “Derby was ready for us,” Newton coach Don Cameron said. “We played them close (earlier in the season). Derby really played well today. Our kids never quit. We had a lot of trouble passing over their long arms — part of that is our problem; part of that is a credit to Derby. They are long and lengthy — 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. We needed to be stronger with the basketball. Again, our kids didn’t quit. It’s just one of those games where we need to learn what went wrong and move on.” Derby, 10-3, was led by Tyler Chambers and Josh Ray with 13 points each. Dylan Hunter added 11 points. Newton was led by Austin Krogmeier with nine points. Grant Walker and Brenden Downey added eight points each. Early turnovers allowed Derby to jump to a 6-0 lead in the first two minutes of play. Newton took a time out, cut down their turnovers, but couldn’t hit from the field, allowing Derby to take a 13-0 lead at the end of the quarter. Newton finally scored on a Krogmeier layup with 7:17 remaining in the second quarter, sparking an 8-0 Railer run. Down by six with 2:54 remaining in the half, the Railers gave up a 12-1 run to trail 32-15 at the half. Newton was outscored 13-5 in the third quarter. The Railers won the fourth quarter 22-17. Newton, 4-7, plays at Valley Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Hornets are 3-8, finishing 0-3 at their tournament. “We’ll get some rest and regroup,” Cameron said. “They are a whole lot better. We have to be strong with the basketball. We can’t turn the ball over the way we did today. We have to play with confidence. We did that yesterday (in a win over Wichita South). We’ve got to learn mentally to put to good games together.”